So Nancy and I lived a full life at Clifton Hole, then we moved to Albion and for some (the beginning) of that time we had Joni and her cat living with us while Joni got on her feet or whatever the phrase is, found her feet, in Melbourne. I had never seen Nancy with another cat up till that point except her uncle Monty (who she hated and feared, and the feeling was mutual). But in this instance Nancy seemed to have found a genuine friend. Joni was of the opinion beforehand that this would work because her cat was low-status and would just hide, and I thought at the time 'what on earth does Joni know about cats, they don't work like that' but she was completely correct. That didn't last long but it was a good arrangement for the cats, they got on really well - they would play a lot (sometimes it looked like fighting but no-one got upset) and even just sit together.
So in um I can't remember, I guess it was 2020, we were living in Parkville and I decided Nancy needed a friend (particularly because she would not be able to go outside anymore) and like a fool I decided to force it and find a timid, small, pushover friend. I got Helmi just in time for the pandemic (I specifically remember that the Cat People of Melbourne person Gina insisted we not shake hands but bump elbows - I am pretty sure this was the first time that had actually been enforced on me, though I knew of the concept). Helmi has slowly come round to me and we are very close, I find her completely ridiculous but I adore her and I admire her loyalty. But she and Nancy, nuh-uh. They have tended to attack each other whenever they are near each other, which is usually only when I'm there too (so there is a bit of 'girls, girls, don't fight over me' which of course is flattering) but they also sometimes I just hear them do it in another room.
In the last let's say month, though, there has been a slight thaw. This is Nancy's doing primarily because she is refusing to retreat (though it is also me taking Laura's wise counsel that the cats should eat in the same place, which they now do, Helmi creeping downstairs in the middle of the night to eat whatever scraps there are left the kitchen). So almost every morning, I wake up with both of them on the bed, not near each other exactly and never in vulnerable positions. You know what it's like being a cat. You have to sometimes look like you're asleep so it's clear you're not in a panic. But a cat is always a hair trigger away from leaping into action.
So I think the ball is basically in Helmi's court now. I probably told you about the insane video I saw of Helmi when she had kittens, washing herself blithely in a room of people while her kittens played with a dog, which is just like - I would never have believed it possible but I saw it (writing it down now I am not sure I believe it still). The only connection between that cat in that video and the cat I now know is that it's the same cat. So of course I know that whatever ails Helmi, well, it might be permanent now, but this is not the cat she's always been.
They did play together once, in my memory, when they briefly investigated a battery-operated toy together. That was a communing moment (at Parkville). I guess maybe I should invest in more things like that but it does seem like an expense because Nancy only ever plays with a toy once.
It doesn't obsess me or anything, I am fine with it all, I am just watching what happens and observing change and hoping it goes the way I want it to.
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